Shekhar Golchha elected senior vice-president

Newly-elected senior vice-president of FNCCI Shekhar Golchha (center) celebrates his win with his panel-members after the results in Kathmandu on Tuesday.

KATHMANDU, April 11: Shekhar Golchha has been elected the senior vice-president of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI). In the elections, held during the 51st annual general assembly on Tuesday, Golchha, the Director of the Golchha Organization, received 63.3 percent of the total votes cast while his competitor Kishor Kumar Pradhan received 36.7 percent.

Golchha received 61 votes from the Industry and Commerce group while Pradhan got 42 votes. From the Commodity group, Golchha and Pradhan received 47 and 51 votes respectively. Golchha received 504 votes Pradhan 123 from the Associates group.

Golchha, as director of the Golchha Organization, owns different enterprises involved in manufacturing, trading, and services, among others.

Out of the three new vice presidents of FNCCI, two are from Golchha’s panel of candidates while one is from Pradhan’s panel. Chandra Prasad Dhakal was elected unopposed in the Associates group. Dhakal stood from the Golchha panel.

Umesh Lal Shrestha, the other candidate from the Golchha panel, was elected as vice president of the Commodity group. Pramod Shrestha, from Pradhan’ panel, won the election for the post of vice president in the Industry and Commerce group (also called the District and Municipal group). Umesh Lal Shrestha has got 47 and his closest competitor Shankar Prasad Pandey got 38.

Pramod Shrestha received 53 votes while his competitor Dinesh Shrestha received 48 votes.
According to the FNCCI statute, which amended last year, Golchha will be the president of FNCCI after three years.

Bhawani Rana, previously the senior vice-president, was automatically promoted to president of FNCCI during the assembly, which started on Monday, as per the FNCCI statute amended last year.
A total of 823 votes were cast in the election. All the 104 district/ municipal members and 99 members of the commodity groups cast their votes while 620 out of a total 634 voters participated in the election held on Tuesday.

FNCCI has 64 seats, including 18 members of district and municipal groups, 14 from commodity groups, and 19 from associates.

Outgoing FNCCI President Pashupati Murarka and other past presidents of the umbrella body had tried to forge a consensus on key posts, including senior vice-president, but their attempts did not bear fruit. Shekhar Golchha and Kishor Pradhan declared their own panels in the elections from Bhairahawa and Biratnagar respectively three weeks ago. The elections kicked off at 8 am on Tuesday and ended at 1 pm.

The new leadership under Bhawani Rana will assume office on Wednesday.